Market Buzz: Optimism High at F-T July Sale

The yearling market will get its first major test in 2012 when the Fasig-Tipton conducts its Kentucky select sale July 10 in Lexington. Here is what buyers and consignors had to say July 7 and 8 about their expectations for the market and the health of the Thoroughbred industry:

Jody Huckabay, Elm Tree Farm: “You turn the news on and you think the sky is falling. But things are better than everybody portrays, I think. People want to have fun. They’re tired of not spending their money and having no entertainment. They’re back to wanting to do some things. They can’t just sit on their money forever. I think they want to participate in the market.

“There are always good individual at this sale. The pedigrees may be a little bit iffy; they don’t jump off the (catalog) page at you. But the individuals are always nice. Just being here and glancing around, I can tell you there are some awful nice colts this year. And they’ll outrun their pedigrees.”

David McKathan, Florida pinhooker: “I don’t think the market will be weak at all. It is a condensed market and it is supply and demand. In the next few years, there is going to be more demand than supply, so horses should sell well. I suspect that could make it harder for us to gather horses at the prices we need to gather them at. But I don’t mind having a smaller foal crop. I think it’s better for everybody. It helps all horses sell better.”

Pat Costello, Paramount Sales: “The 2-year-old sales have been great and racing right now has a bit of a buzz to it. New York is helping big time.”

Carrie Brogden, Select Sales: "I’m very optimistic about the horse world. You don’t see a bunch of four-blank-dam horses being bred; that’s highly unusual nowadays. We’ve really crunched down on the quality of the pedigrees and the quality of the stallions that are able to stand. I’m seeing a lot of desire for the Louisiana program, the New York program, and the California program. I’m optimistic.”

Alfred Nuckols Jr., Hurstland Farm: “I think it’s going to be a good sale. Supply (overall) has dropped a little bit. The 2-year-old sales were good, so there should hopefully a little bit more money for the pinhookers to spend. All last fall, and even last summer, the quality horses at the top of the market seemed like they were bringing a little bit of a premium. If they were good horses, there was still good money to be spent.”

Reiley McDonald, Eaton Sales: I feel like I always do. I don’t really expect very much and normally it (the sale) exceeds my expectations. I just think it’s a question mark going in and hopefully people are here to buy horses. Looking at all the people who are here on a Saturday morning (July 7), it’s not really a bad start. Traditionally, this has been more of a pinhookers’ sale. But I do think it has built up its end user base the last couple of years, so its success isn’t tied to the pinhooking market.”

Matt Lyons, Woodford Thoroughbreds: “I’m pretty positive. We had a good year selling 2-year-olds this year. We were above our expectations and we feel like we’ve got a pretty nice group of yearlings overall, so we’re hopeful. It’s early yet, but it’s been busy all morning (July 7).”

John Stephens, Florida pinhooker: “I feel great. The horse business is good and there is a nice group of horses here. The market is condensed, so it will be stronger; it’s a supply and demand type of thing. If you have the right horse, you’re going to get paid for it.”